Stuck@Om with Matt Mullenweg
In this episode of Stuck@Om my good friend Matt Mullenweg joins me. Matt is the CEO of Automattic and a founding member of WordPress. Matt usually travels extensively for work \u2014 he logged over 500,000 miles in the air last year \u2014 but is enjoying his extended time at home.\xa0
Recently, I started embracing a concept Matt popularized called \u201cAway From Keyboard\u201d, shortened to \u201cAFK\u201d. It began as a simple way to relate that you were away from your desk but evolved into a way to encourage vacation and time off. It\u2019s important to embrace rest and restoration \u2014 it helps us become more productive and mentally stable.\xa0
Matt shares that they\u2019ve cultivated a culture at Automattic that\u2019s open and honest, where everyone communicates freely. They\u2019ve found success implementing an open vacation policy (taking as much time off as employees want or need). Every 5 years, Automattic requires its employees to take a 2-3 month paid sabbatical. Matt finds those team members return full of ideas and renewed energy, positively impacting the company.\xa0
We also chat about the importance of virtual social gatherings and the importance of continuing human-to-human connection. Matt also shares some tips for those new to the work-from-home model. Be sure to listen to this short but expansive conversation.\xa0
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Outline of This Episode- How Matt is enjoying being \u201cgrounded\u201d\xa0
- The big idea behind \u201cAway from Keyboard\u201d\xa0
- Automattic\u2019s open vacation and sabbatical policy\xa0
- Matt implemented \u201chalf days\u201d due to Covid-19
- Fall back on the core of your culture
- The 5 levels of autonomy
- Make space for virtual social gatherings